Founders Capital Management LLC Sells 2,538 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Founders Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,311 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,538 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 9.9% of Founders Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Founders Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the first quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 3,149 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.1% during the first quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,513 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.8% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 35,807 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,638,000 after purchasing an additional 6,168 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,276 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,523,445. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $10.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $682.78. 6,066,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,472,031. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $600.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $618.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.